Analyst: War in terror is a war of words

BEIRUT, Lebanon, June 24 (UPI) -- The fight against al-Qaida will not be won exclusively through military means, but by undermining their message and ideology, analysts say.

With the so-called war on terror plodding along into its eighth year, al-Qaida has evolved into a franchise despite laudable setbacks in Central Asia.

The belligerent attitude in Washington, meanwhile, has been replaced by a pragmatic assessment of the underlying causes of transnational terrorism in U.S. President Barack Obama.

His predecessor, George W. Bush, stoked the fires of radicalism by alienating the Muslim community with his confrontational attitude, notes Anouar Boukhars, a Middle East expert at The Brookings Institution.

Boukhars, writing in the Lebanese Daily Star, says the policy of the Obama administration is aimed at addressing the grievances that led to radicalism, which may make further progress than the "dogmatic, bellicose" attitude of the former White House.

The ideology and complaints by al-Qaida and its affiliates cannot be undermined by military means alone, but by changing the narrative.

"The president and his team seem to understand that al-Qaida can only be defeated if its narrative is shattered and legitimate Muslim governments are empowered to provide for their citizens and police their borders," he concludes.